However it wasn't purely altruistic. I also wanted to generate an income from this site. I had a plan - both in terms of content (the topics I would write on), marketing (how I would get the word about my site out there) and monetisation. At a very basic level my plan looked something like the following:
- Create awesome content
- Let people know that the content exists
- Reap the rewards for my hard work
Things didn't quite go to plan...
Ahh I'm such a planner but with my business ideas and projects things never really seem to go to plan. I got my website up and running and created some kick-ass content but I choked on the marketing aspect of the project (and as a consequence the rewards definitely didn't flow my way).
Marketing does not come naturally to me. Whilst I'm more than happy to let my network of friends and colleagues know what I am up to and promote my material that way, commenting on related blogs and building an online network is not something I'm really good at. This is something I definitely I need to work on.
Because I wasn't out there promoting my material I was barely getting any visits at all to the site which in turn makes it pretty challenging to keep generating awesome content.
I was depressed at the lack of progress I was making...and then one day I just stopped writing...
It wasn't a conscious decision I made to stop writing...it just kind of happened. The last scheduled post I had went out and I couldn't get up the will to write any more.
But then recently I noticed something about Banker's Pitch
Banker's Pitch was honestly the last thing on
my mind but recently the domain came up for renewal. I decided I would renew it if anyone was using the resources...after all I had spent 60 - 80 hours working on it and if someone found it useful then I'd keep it up there. And then I discovered something strange
I had not updated the site in over 5 months...but traffic continued to growI had not updated the site, I had not sent out any emails, I had not done a Facebook update or added more posts to Pinterest. In fact I had completely stopped all activities related to the site...but the content on there was good and people were finding it. Check out the traffic data below...keep in mind that I have not touched the site in over 5 months...
Seeing that really gave me a boost of energy. The traffic still isn't brilliant but it reminded me that content is in fact king. I created content that I know is useful. Perhaps it wont be the type of blog which generates tons of interactions...perhaps it will be one where people go to get information and that's it.
That's not a bad thing...it probably needs to be monetised differently (to date it has made a grand total of $3.42) but that is something I can think about and do.
So what is my plan?
I've decided to give this blog another go. I'm being much more realistic about what I can do and what I can expect from the blog. Over the next 6 months I want to:
- Upload 1 post per week (down from 2 - 3)
- Market the blog by guest posting and by commenting on other relevant blogs (and get over my fear of doing this!)
- Send out an update email once a month (down from once a fortnight)
- Create useful interview guides (within 6 months) and market them on the blog
- Use other media forms to enhance the offering (the occasional youtube video etc)...this I haven't completely decided on just yet
In order to add some social pressure to this plan I'm going to be updating this blog monthly on my progress. Over the next month I'm going to nail down my content strategy and get out there and start marketing the blog more aggressively.
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Awesome news 90 Million!
ReplyDeleteI'd say that you'd be able to create a nice niche here, especially given that it is globally applicable.. It remind me of a guy called Pat Flynn, from Smart Passive Income, who created a green exam academy niche site, then moved on to a site about passive income..
Looking forward to following your journey & I could see you creating E-Books, interview courses etc even a membership community for aspiring investment bankers.. The opportunities really are endless! :)
Hi Jef,
DeleteI read Pat Flynn quite often. I really like his stuff. I'm looking to create a great resource that Investment Bankers can use. There are already a ton of posts up there on all sorts of topics.
One of the hardest things is actually getting the blog out there. It is not the only site that has stuff on Investment Banking and although I think it's great I really do need people to find it for the first time. That's the bit I haven't quite worked out yet
Awesome 90M, you're already on the right track then!
ReplyDeleteI listened to one of Pat's podcast episodes recently and he mentioned guest posts are a great way that one of his guests managed to grow a bit of an authority i.e. places like Huffington Post, Entrepreneur or even an Investment Banking blog that you know of..
It certainly won't be easy but anything that's worth having probably isn't likely to be easy to get!